Protect and Save
by Shadow Zee
Summary: A one-shot involving a battle between Ratchet and Starscream back at Mission City. 2007 Bay-verse. OC. Enjoy!


Hello again! It's storming beautifully outside right now so I thought I'd finally upload this piece of scrap. It explains what happened to Jade's shoulder and it's PRE-"DARK SPARK"! I'm uploading all my stuff out of order, so please forgive me and enjoy! Don't forget to comment, favorite, subscribe, etc!

DISCLAIMER: Transformers aren't mine! They're Hasbro's. Excuse me while I go cry in a corner. But Jade is mine!

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><p><em>Protect and Save<em>

California Avenue was in complete and total chaos. And that was just one street. The rest of Mission City was on its way to joining it. Left and right, there were signs falling off shop doors and windows being blown out of buildings. Car alarms echoed around every corner. The easily recognizable _pop-pop_ of gunfire scattered the streets and black smoke rose out abandoned vehicles burning on crumbled debris piles. To add to the terrible scene, explosions boomed rapidly in nearly every direction, deafening anyone who found themselves too close.

Running as fast as her thin legs could carry her, Jadeance booked it down California Avenue, jumping over hunks of road and flattened truck tires. If there wasn't a war going on between two factions of giant alien robots, the day might have been rather enjoyable and perfect for a little jaunt down the street. The warm sun was shining brightly on the city and felt nice on one's skin. Too bad there really _was_ a war going on. And staying alive, rather than skipping along the sidewalk, was at the top of the seventeen-year-old's list.

So she ran, but not alone. Not too far behind her was a massive bipedal mechanoid. Any other witness on the street would have thought that the giant bot was coming to harm the girl that appeared to be running from it. In actuality, the alien was watching Jade's six as she attempted to make it to safety among the American soldiers located farther up the avenue and around the corner. Also unknown to any passerby, the yellow-green mech's name was Ratchet and the girl he was protecting was about to have an unpleasant encounter with another alien.

Jade felt her heart pounding hard in her chest while the adrenaline in her veins fueled her sprinting, but her speed faltered when a low-flying jet began closing in on her position.

Ratchet's own speed quickened as he passed the female, holding his hand out wide in front of her. "Hide!" he urged in an older-sounding, gruff voice.

The panting teen stopped dead in her tracks.

The F22-Raptor transformed midair, turning into the huge form of Starscream as he crashed his bulk into Ratchet. Tiny sparks exploded around them as they rolled backwards, causing Jade to duck instinctively.

She let out a panicked yelp as she watched the two forms duel.

Missiles launched from the Decepticon's forearms and impacted Ratchet's body, washing the Autobot in bright white heat. He returned fire instantly and was very fierce in doing so, swinging his rotary blade with deadly aim and shooting at Starscream like the world depended on it. At the very least, Jade and Ratchet's lives depended on it.

Starscream was powerful and Jade could see that Ratchet was not going to finish this fight quickly or easily.

So the girl hid. Well, tried to. Every time she found a flipped car to crouch behind, Starscream didn't hesitate to fire at it. And each time Jade escaped around a corner of some building, the 'Con would send a missile in her direction. It quickly became obvious to both Jade and Ratchet that the Decepticon wanted the human out of the picture.

After much ducking and covering, hiding and running, Jade found herself trapped between two brick apartment buildings. Her plan had been to simply run between them and escape through the other end of the alley, but there was no way through. The alley was blocked by a ten-foot-high brick wall. She was pinned down with nowhere to go besides out the way she came, which was currently under heavy fire by a pissed-off, human-hating Decepticon. All would take was one missile to find its way to Jade and the alley would be demolished, along with Jade herself.

She was running out of time. Each second that ticked by was another opportunity for Starscream and Ratchet wasn't going to be getting any assistance anytime soon form his Autobot companions. They were all tied up in engagements of their own. There was no doubt that the human soldiers could hear this little one-on-one battle, but their hands were also tied.

Hearing her own pulse in her ears, Jade thought about her options, which were very few. If she stayed in her current position, then she was screwed. She could see Ratchet trying to push the winged Decepticon away, to give Jadeance a chance to run, and it seemed to be working. Whenever Starscream fired at the human, he left himself vulnerable to Ratchet's attacks and the Autobot would force him further down California Avenue, closer to the soldiers and the rest of the battling Transformers.

However, Starscream was getting the upper hand too often and the medic bot was getting exhausted.

So, given her so few options, Jade made a judgment call and abandoned her post in the alleyway. She could hear the soldiers fending off Decepticons about a half mile up the street, around the corner, and while the distance was long and there were no streets along the way to turn onto, Jade was fast.

Breathing in a heavy load of air, Jade darted out from her place between the apartment buildings like a bat out of hell and ran like she had never run before. Behind her, she could hear Ratchet and Starscream clashing and hitting and punching and Jade just prayed her Autobot companion would be able to hold off the Decepticon long enough for her to reach relative safety among the human soldiers.

She wondered if her prayers were not heard or simply ignored.

Even though Starscream was unable to fire a clear shot towards Jade, he wasn't going to let that stop him from firing at the irritating insect at all. Slamming aside Ratchet, who had stepped too close, Starscream quickly let a missile fly before having to hastily dodge his enemy's buzzing saw blade.

But Ratchet was too late to stop the missile. It was free and all the Autobot could do was yell, "_JADE!_"

She faintly heard her name, but had zero time to look back. On the corner of her eye, Jade watched the missile explode into the street just a few yards from her.

Jade had been halfway to the soldiers.

The impact sent her flying sideways into a nearby upside-down Dodge Charger, shattering the only window still intact with her own impact against the vehicle. Her right shoulder collided with the passenger door, bending it and causing bright stars to fill her vision. Jade was on the ground in an instant. The pinpoints of light she had seen disappeared and gave way to pitch-blackness. Gargle of sounds surrounded her and confused her senses. The line between consciousness and unconsciousness was growing thinner with each passing second.

Ratchet watched with wide blue optics, horrified as his human friend was slammed like an abused ragdoll against the silver vehicle. He had no time to scan her and check for vitals, for Starscream was not quite done. However, neither was Ratchet. Letting loose a heavy rain of fire that would have made Megatron nervous, the Autobot was beginning to turn the tables.

Starscream was no fool and could see where the fight was now going. Unhappy for finding the need to have to back down, he growled, but his anger quickly turned into devilish laughter. He had eliminated one of the humans, which was enough for him to recharge soundly.

The Decepticon wasted no time in transforming back into his jet mode and flying off beyond Ratchet's sight.

"Jade!" cried the medic, no longer occupied with the Seeker. He hurried over to the nearly motionless human, whose arm was just beginning to move a little, signaling her being alive and proving Starscream's incompetence to kill even a single human.

The seventeen-year-old was lying face-down beside the busted car. Afraid to injure her further if touched, Ratchet did a quick scan. He knew better than to do that at any other time, but he needed to now. Thankfully, the scanned came up empty for anything life-threatening. An injury to her right shoulder and a couple of broken ribs, but nothing else.

With an inaudible sigh, Ratchet kneeled beside Jade and as gently as possible, which was surprisingly gentle for a giant robot, Ratchet turned her over onto her back.

She was awake instantly. "Ahh!" she cried, causing Ratchet to pull his hand away immediately.

"Sorry," he said apologetically. "Your right shoulder is dislocated and several ribs may be fractured."

Jade closed her eyelids tightly at the thought of being moved again or having to move at all. She was still recovering from the wave of pain that washed down her body when her medic friend had rolled her over. He was being gentle, Jade knew, but it still hurt like hell. "And how would you know that?" she questioned Ratchet, opening her ocean blue eyes to stare at his own.

While the large Autobot was hesitant at first, he answered honestly. "I quickl bio-scan, but I had to do it—"

"Ratch, it's okay. I was joking. I understand why you did it." She smiled and could see the large mech relax. But then her eyes quickly began searching the surrounding area.

Ratchet knew why. "Starscream has joined the others in battle," he said comfortingly. "He thought you were dead." The bot hesitated. "So did I."

Jade's breath caught slightly at the mention of the Decepticon's name, but she calmed down when she heard the worry in her friend's voice. She responded with a smile. "I'm okay. Thanks, Ratchet." And then a huge surge of pain flooded her senses as she foolishly attempted to get up, feeling it was finally time to get moving instead of being easy prey for any other Decepticon.

A large metal hand carefully pushed her back down.

"You should remain still until help comes from Captain Lennox."

"I can't just stay on the ground, Ratch." She grinned again comfortingly.

He understood and allowed her to grab his surprisingly warm metal hand, or rather, his finger. Ever so gently again, Ratchet lifted his hand, bringing Jade up with it. His scans had been accurate. Jade had hurt her shoulder. It wasn't broken, but the dislocation was going to be a problem, especially since he didn't know how to put it back in its place. After all, he was an experienced medical officer for _Transformers_, not humans. But he knew Lennox or one of his men would be able to fix it. And her ribs, he could tell, were causing additional pain.

Jade clutched at them carefully when she was steadily back on her feet.

The Autobot wished his little human friend didn't require the use of lungs because now every breath was going to be hell.

Patiently, he gave Jade the chance to gather herself while he stood and observed the surrounding area. They were out in the open and the sooner they moved off, the better.

The battle down the street was raging and the Autobot needed to join his counterparts. So he kneeled down beside Jade again and opened his hand to her, palm facing up. "Time to get you to safety and finish this war."

Jade bravely looked up at Ratchet, who look incredibly powerful as the sun glinted off his paint job. She nodded towards him and climbed onto his hand, careful to avoid using her right arm.

Quickly, Ratchet lifted his metallic hand to the black cage-like piece on his shoulder, allowing Jade to climb into it.

Hanging on tightly, Jade said, "Lets get to it."


End file.
